Ghost Rider 2
by SpideyFan914
Summary: Mephistopheles the devil hires a new Ghost Rider to take down Johnny Blaze. Meanwhile, Johnny attempts to find enough courage to propose to Roxanne. Movieverse.
1. Part One

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

"They say the west runs on legends. One of those legends is that of the Ghost Rider. According to the legend, there's one every generation, damned to serve the devil. One Ghost Rider was sent by the devil to retrieve the Contract of Sandbeganna, a contract containing the evil of a thousand souls. But he couldn't let the devil get his hands on the contract, so he did what no Ghost Rider had ever done before: he turned on the devil himself.

"One hundred and fifty years later, the devil finally created a new Ghost Rider, a motorcyclist named Johnny Blaze. He was sent after the devil's son, Blackheart, who was rebelling against the devil and after the contract of Sandbeganna. Eventually, he captured Johnny's loved one, Roxanne Simpson, in order to force the Rider into handing over the contract. But with a thousand evil souls inside of him, he became immune to the Rider's Penance Stare, a stare which forces the soul to live through every evil deed he had ever committed.

"In exchange for Johnny's defeat of Blackheart, the devil offered to lift the curse of the Ghost Rider. But Johnny made a choice – a choice to use the curse, the power against the devil.

"Legend has it that the devil's now seeking a new Rider to take on Johnny Blaze. Legend has it that he's found a guy. But it's all just a legend...

"Well, y'see, thing about legends is, sometimes…. They're true…."

---

An old man was walking down a deserted boulevard in front of a deserted mansion in a deserted town….

"I know you're back there," he said and a young man stepped out from behind the mansion gates, still engulfed in shadows.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"Oh, my dear, dear boy…." the old man grimaced. "Who says I want anything? It's just…. I heard about your money issues…. and the whole outlaw thing…. and, well, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could help…."

"What do you want from me?" the young man repeated.

"Well, you see, I hear that you are quite a gambler. You love to make deals. Are you interested in my deal?"

"What do you want from me?"

"You're a motorcyclist, right? Use your skills to outride the authorities after just about every single heist. Sometimes, you barely make it out alive. It's hard to believe that they still don't even know your real name…. They'll probably find out soon, though…. They'll be going after those you love to get to you…. I've seen it happen many times before…."

"What do you want from me?" the young man snarled.

"What if you no longer had to perform these heists? What if you could get the police off your trail?"

"What do you want from me?"

"I can give all this and more," the old man declared. The young man was now pondering at the old man's shadow, which appeared not to resemble him at all…. It seemed to more resemble some kind of demon…. "All I want in exchange is your soul…."

The young man rolled his eyes and began to walk away.

"There's a man out there named Johnny Blaze, kid," the old man explained. "He's your target." The young man turned around.

"Why should I do anything you say, madman?"

"In all honesty, it's your choice…. But you do realize that without my help, you also have no protection…." The young man pondered for a second and then realized what the old man was saying.

"What do you want from me?"

"All you must do," the old man said, "is sign this contract, and then you'll be as rich as rich can be!" The young man, still in the shadows, stepped forward. "That's right…." The young man took the feather-pen from the old man and prepared to sign his name.

"Wait!" the old man suddenly said. "Sign it as 'Ghost Rider'." The young man, confused, did as the old man said and a second later, the old man, the contract, and the feather-pen disappeared.

---

Meanwhile, in another part of Texas, Johnny Blaze walked into a darkened alleyway. He had heard an ear-piercing scream coming from it. Looking on the ground, he now saw a dead woman, with bizarre markings on her neck. He walked up to her, bent over, and observed the markings.

"Seen those in movies, before," he thought out loud. "It's a vampire's work."

"_That's right!_"

Johnny looked up to see a pale-white man with fangs. He was dressed in rags.

"_My name is Varnae, Lord of the Vampires. And you, my friend, are fresh blood…._" And on that note, Varnae flew towards Johnny Blaze.

But the next thing he knew, Varnae's throat had been grabbed by a bony hand. He looked up at the man he was attacking.

Johnny was dressed in all leather – leather jacket, leather pants, leather boots. A metal chain was wrapped around his shoulder. But now, his head had transformed into a skull. A flaming skull.

"_Oh…. Oh no…._" Varnae pleaded. "_Please! Have mercy! I didn't know that you were the Ghost Rider!_"

"That _stinks_!" bellowed the Rider. "Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents! Look into my eyes and feel their pain!" Varnae suddenly felt as if he was being engulfed in flames, as he witnessed every murder he had ever committed, every man he had ever corrupted, every life he had ever ruined, and finally, he felt cold….

Ghost Rider let go of Varnae, and allowed him to fall to the ground in the living hell which had been created for him. Turning back into Johnny Blaze, he left the alleyway and went home on his hotrod motorcycle named Grace.

---

At home, Johnny shed his leather suit and put on a tuxedo. After all, tonight, he had a date with the woman he loved, Roxanne Simpson. It was the first time he could ever recall putting on a tuxedo….

"Well, Roxy, aren't you looking lovely tonight…." he rehearsed. "_Well_, Roxy, aren't _you_ looking lovely tonight…. Well, _Roxy_, aren't you looking _lovely_ tonight…. Well, Roxy, aren't you looking lovely _tonight_…. No, no, _no_! That one sounds like she doesn't every night! Maybe…. Well, Roxy, did you know that I stopped the Lord of Vampires tonight? 'Cause that's why I'm late…." He sighed. He was late as it was and this rehearsing was only making him later!


	2. Part Two

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

Johnny Blaze was riding down the streets on his motorcycle, going to the restaurant where he had promised to meet Roxanne. _It will _not_ be like the first date, _he thought. _It will _not _be like the first date. _The first date had occurred a year ago. Coincidentally, it was the day that he became Ghost Rider. Back then, he couldn't control his powers and was unable to transform back into Johnny Blaze until dawn, missing the eight-o-clock dinner.

But since then, he had learned better control over his powers. He could now transform back and forth whenever he wanted to. He could control his powers just as well as he could ride his motorcycle.

Just then, Johnny Blaze fell off his motorcycle.

---

Roxanne looked at her watch. Nine-o-clock PM. Johnny was an hour late. She sighed. It wasn't like she wasn't used to his being late – she knew of his identity as the Ghost Rider. But she also knew that someday, he would die as Ghost Rider and always dreaded that day. Every time Johnny is late, she worries that it's time.

---

Johnny got up, confused. He had only fallen off his motorcycle once before while simply riding in the streets, and that time, the devil made it happen. Johnny looked around, thinking _He's _not_ back. He's _not_ back._

But Johnny's wishes were not granted. He held up his hand and pointed, trying to seem manly, at the devil. "You."

"Is that any way to greet an old friend, Johnny?" the devil asked. While on Earth, the devil wore the guise of a harmless, if not creepy, old man. However, Johnny knew that the old man with a cane was not what the devil really looked like. There was an icy feeling to be brought about wherever the devil walked. He appeared and disappeared when least expected. The last Johnny had seen the devil, he forced Johnny to hunt down Blackheart and send him back to hell.

"I don't work for you anymore, Mephistopheles, I thought we established that."

"Oh, Johnny," the devil laughed a demonic laugh, "you misunderstand. I'm not here to hire you. I'm here to warn you. To warn you of a demon which not even you will be able to handle."

"Blackheart…."

"No, Johnny. Blackheart is locked safely away in the fires of hell. This new evil is no rebel. It works for me. And it has been sent to destroy you. After all, I need to take Zarathos back."

"Zarathos?" Johnny repeated. Then he shook it off. "Call him back, Mephisto, or else you'll see his ashes spread across the face of the Earth."

"Too late, Johnny," the devil responded. "I can't call him back, because this is his home. He is human, just like you."

Johnny bit his lips. He was extremely late.

"Aren't you gonna Ghost Rider up on me, Johnny?" the devil inquired.

"Look, this is really a bad time…. I – I need to be somewhere right now and -"

"Oh, Johnny, Johnny, _Johnny_!" the devil snickered. "You mean your girlfriend, right? Look, I don't doubt that you need to be there. You don't even know half of it. But hey, when your life is in jeopardy, would you really want to get her caught in the middle of things?"

"What have you done?" Johnny jumped back on Grace and prepared to take off, but the devil shut down his engine.

"Wrong way, Rider," he said. "I'm over here." Johnny turned around.

"You asked for it." And on that note, he transformed into Ghost Rider. "It's just that this tuxedo isn't flame-proof!"

Ghost Rider flew a fireball at the devil, who suddenly disappeared and came up behind him.

"You'll have to be faster next time," he said. Rider spun around and threw another fireball at thin air. The same routine went on all night long, until there were flames everywhere. Now, police were arriving at the scene as well.

"Come out with your hands up!" shouted an officer.

"No thanks!" shouted Ghost Rider, and with a quick gesture, flames erupted around the fight between Ghost Rider and the devil.

"You're wasting your energy, Johnny," the devil snickered from behind. "I have no wish to fight you. That is my demons' job. I hear that you beat Varnae earlier…. Well, believe me – there will be others like him. You see, Varnae was simply warming up, preparing to face you. But I knew that he'd fail miserably…. It's in his blood…. Well, actually, it's the blood of those he's sucked the blood of, because, you see, they would've had to be failures to be unable to escape, so when Varnae suck their blood, he receives that failure blood and, well, it's complicated…."

"Fire at will!" an officer shouted, and suddenly bullets began to race into the circle of flames.

"No!" Rider screamed – the devil was gone. "Fine! Fire, you said? I'll give you fire!" And on that, Rider gestured for the flames to burst outwards just enough to scare the police off. Ghost Rider then stepped out the flames, hopped onto his bike, and rode off into the sunrise.

---

Roxanne checked the time. It was now ten-thirty. AM. A woman in his twenties came up to her and pointed to a chair.

"Is anyone sitting here?" she asked. Roxanne did not look up.

"No…. I guess not…."

"Okay, thank you." The young woman towed away the chair.

---

Later that day, reporters, including Roxanne, arrived at the scene of Ghost Rider's earlier battle with the devil.

"Eye witnesses say that there was some kind of demon attacking a harmless old man on this scene," Roxanne reported. "The demon ran away on a motorcycle, while the old man disappeared without a trace. Captain, can you explain the demon?"

"No comment," the police captain politely offered. Roxanne sighed. She had a feeling about the situation. As Ghost Rider, Johnny did seem somewhat demonic. As for the old man, it could be Mephistopheles's human form. She put down the microphone.

"Off the record?"

"Off the record? Why would you want to know off the record?" the captain inquired.

"I have my reasons." The captain rolled his eyes and walked away.

"I'll tell you," said a man. Roxanne spun around. "On or off the record. I couldn't care less. Just gotta get this off my chest."

"Sir," Roxanne said, approaching the man, microphone up, "please, tell us your name and explain how you saw this 'demon'."

"'Demons'," the man corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"The old guy. He was a demon too. The devil, to be specific. And the other demon – he was the devil's bounty hunter, the Ghost Rider."

"Who are you?" Roxanne questioned, now very curious.

"Name's Daniel Ketch," said the man. "And before you ask your next question, it was."

"What do you mean?"

Dan lowered his voice. "It was yer boyfriend, Johnny Blaze."

"How do you know all this?"

"Do not concern yourself with that, Miss Simpson," Danny Ketch grinned, "just give him this note." He slipped Roxanne an envelope. "Don't look inside, Roxy, or else, you may never look back up." Roxanne stared at the envelope, and upon turning back to Dan, she found that he was gone.

"Psst, Miss Simpson…." her cameraman whispered. "We're still recording…."

"Are we live?"

"Um…. Kinda…." Roxanne's eyes widened and she continued speaking.

"So that you have it, folks. This is Roxanne Simpson at the scene of the fight between the devil and his bounty hunter. Over and out."


	3. Part Three

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

"The devil and his bounty hunter?" Roxanne's cameraman laughed. "Sheesh, where did that come from?"

"Well, that's what Ketch said," Roxanne explained. "I'm just reporting an eye-witness account."

"Ketch? Dan Ketch?"

"That's what he said, yes. Why? Do you know him?"

The cameraman attempted to hide his laughter. "Listen, Roxy…. There is _no_ Dan Ketch. Okay? He's just a myth!"

"What are you talking about; he was standing right there."

"No one was standing there, Roxanne. You were speaking with yourself…." The cameraman walked away, and Roxanne stared after him, more confused than ever before. She looked down at the envelope, which was still sealed, just to make sure that it really existed.

---

When Roxanne arrived at Johnny's house a few hours later, Johnny was sitting down, reading books on various mythological creatures.

"Hey," she said.

Johnny looked up. "Hey."

"I heard that you had a run-in with the devil."

Johnny sighed. He had been avoiding this.

"Yeah," he finally confessed. "Mephistopheles is gonna send a demon after me. A powerful one, from the sound of it. I'm just, y'know, researching demons so that, y'know, maybe I'll figure out who. But that's not why I missed dinner. I missed dinner because I was attacked by a vampire and then the devil. Yeah. It was a busy night…."

"Who's this guy?" asked Roxanne, pointing to a picture on a cover. The picture showed a skeleton engulfed in flames.

"That's Zarathos," Johnny explained.

"He looks kinda like you. As Ghost Rider, I mean."

"Yeah, I know. That's the scary part. The devil specifically mentioned Zarathos last night – he said that he was searching for Zarathos…. wanted him back…. Roxy, you don't think that…."

"That what?"

"You don't think…. I'm Zarathos, do you?" Johnny inquired.

"Well, I think that you're…." Roxanne searched for the right word. "Unique…. That's for sure…. But, you're no demon…. You're just Johnny Blaze…. And you couldn't have a purer heart…." Johnny stared at Roxanne like she was out of her mind. "Well, yes, you're the devil's bounty hunter…. But that was against your will. And it's over now, anyway…. And don't forget, Johnny, you sold your soul for your father. You gave up your entire life as you knew it just to save him."

"Not that that worked out very well…."

"Johnny…. Stop blaming yourself for what happened…. You did everything you could and you were only a teenager, after all…. You couldn't fight with the devil then – you barely can now! But someday, you'll get him…. I know you will…. He took your soul, but not your spirit…."

Johnny's eyes widened.

"What did I say?" Suddenly, Johnny got up and began walking to his bike, Grace.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" Johnny realized.

"Johnny, where are you going?"

"It was that last thing you said. It reminded me of something I once said to Carter Slade."

"Carter Slade? The caretaker? The Ghost Rider before you?" Roxanne checked.

"Yeah. If anyone knows who the devil'll send after me, it's Slade." He then turned into Ghost Rider, drove through the window, and rode off into the distance.

Roxanne walked around Johnny's house to his desk. She sighed. She had not yet gotten to deliver Dan Ketch's note to him. Should she just leave it on his desk or wait to deliver it personally. She wanted to be able to warn him of the mysteriousness of Ketch, after all, and the fact that no one else could see him. Perhaps if she wrote him a note of her own.

Roxanne opened a drawer to look for a pen and paper. All that was in it was a bunch of mythology books. The drawer she opened included various spare motorcycle parts. The following drawer was empty.

The final desk drawer had only a single object in it: a small, felt, black, square box. She picked it up and looked at the golden writing on it: _To Roxanne. Love, Johnny._

_Well, if it's for me…._ Roxanne opened the small box and gasped. Inside was a ring. It was inscribed _Roxanne_.


	4. Part Four

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

Arriving at the cemetery, Ghost Rider parked his motorcycle and transformed back to Johnny Blaze.

"Slade?" he called out. A second later, his good friend, Carter Slade, leaning on his shovel, appeared.

"Hey, Rider," he said, "I hear you had some luck with Blackheart."

"Good to see again, Slade."

---

A few minutes passed, and Johnny was settled in Slade's hut, eating chicken.

"So, kid," Slade said, "I assume you're here about the new one?"

"The new one?"

"You mean you don't know? Man, and you call yourself Ghost Rider…."

"Mephisto showed up yesterday," Johnny explained. "He warned me that he's sending someone after me."

"That would be Ghost Rider."

"What? _I'm_ Ghost Rider!"

"A _new_ Ghost Rider."

"What's wrong with me as Ghost Rider?"

"You rebelled against him! He's after a _new_ Ghost Rider."

"But I'm _still_ Ghost Rider!"

"Yeah, well he ain't likin' _you_ bein' Ghost Rider."

"Fine, then," Johnny said, "any ideas to the identity of the new Ghost Rider?"

"Not a clue, kid," Slade said. "Legend doesn't mention that." There was a pause. "Anything else botherin' you, kid?"

"What do you know about Zarathos?" Johnny asked. Slade's eyes widened.

"Kid, you don't wanna know…."

"So, you _do_ know!"

"Yeah, I do…." Carter Slade admitted. "But you won't like what I'll tell you…. You won't like one bit…."

---

"The devil, sometimes called Mephistopheles or Mephisto for short, has many sons…. Blackheart was one of 'em. But he wasn't the only one…. Nor was he the most powerful, by far…. No, the most powerful demon is Zarathos…. Some even say that he was more powerful than the devil himself…. So, it was only natural for the devil to attempt to make Zarathos an ally….

"Y'see, unlike Blackheart, Zarathos was not born to Mephisto…. His origins are, in fact, unknown…. The devil didn't like that idea…. No parents meant no affiliations…. No affiliations meant no limits…. No limits meant no control over him, even by the devil himself…. So waddaya know – Mephisto adopted Zarathos!

"Later came the time of the Ghost Rider, although it's unknown who the first one was…. Y'see, to grant a human demonic power, a demon must be placed inside of 'im…. Sometimes, however, the demon takes control, which is exactly what the devil wanted…. Zarathos possesses the Ghost Rider…."

---

"Wow…." Johnny said. "First I'm a demon, then I'm the devil's bounty hunter, then I'm a guy _possessed_ by a demon! Y'know, this really makes my day!"

"The devil took Zarathos outta me a long time ago, when I began to get too much control…. I still had my powers, but barely…. Now they're gone…. And without the Ghost Rider's immortality, I doubt that I'll last much longer…."

"So, Mephistopheles wants Zarathos back so that he can create more Ghost Riders?"

"That's right."

"So," Johnny questioned, "who's the new Ghost Rider? I mean, if Zarathos possesses me, whose possessing the new one?"

"Beats me," Slade replied, "doubt he's the equal of Zarathos, though."

"Mephisto said that I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"I agree with him. Listen, kid. Zarathos is powerful. That doesn't make you powerful. You see, you control him now. But, with that control comes a weakening. If Zarathos were to take over again, then you'd be unstoppable. 'Course, you'd also serve the devil…. So don't let it happen…."

"Why would I unleash an unstoppable fury which loves the devil who hates me?"

---

Meanwhile, in a Texan town – the one where Johnny and Roxanne both live, to be exact – a shadowy young man walks through the streets. He screams and erupts into flames, turning into a skeleton. He looks like the Ghost Rider, except that his leather jacket is brown, his flame is slightly larger, extending all the way through his skull, hands, and feet, and he has a sixth finger on his left hand. He is the new Ghost Rider.

---

As Roxanne arrives home, she takes out her key, unlocks the door, steps inside, and locks it behind her. Heading upstairs, she combs her hair and brushes her teeth. Quickly slipping on a nightgown, she heads for bed.

In her usual routine, Roxanne lifts the covers to get underneath, when a flaming skull suddenly jumps out from underneath the covers. Roxanne lets out an ear-piercing scream.

---

Johnny arrived back in town a few hours later. Before going home, he decided to head to Roxanne's house to tell her of Zarathos. But when he arrived, he found police cars surrounding the house, with their sirens flaring.

"Roxy!" he shouted, and ran up.

There was a large crowd. The police were interviewing Roxanne's neighbors. Johnny squeezed through the thick crowd and found the police captain standing in front of her door.

"What happened?" he wailed.

"That is strictly confidential, son," the captain replied.

"But I'm her boyfriend! I'm Roxy's boyfriend! I'm Johnny Blaze!" Suddenly, the captain turned to Johnny.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I'm Johnny Blaze?"

"Yes," the captain said, eyes widening, seeming somewhat scared, "come with me, son." Johnny followed the police captain inside. Nothing seemed to be out of place. "From what we can make out, the suspect entered through her bedroom window and attacked her in bed."

"In bed?"

"Yes, while she was going to sleep. But it wasn't a rape case, we're ninety-nine percent sure of that."

"Is she –?"

"Alive?" the captain finished. "We are honestly not sure. Roxanne Simpson was not on the crime scene. She was kidnapped. Now, son, this is going to come as quite a shock to you, but want to know what you can make of this…." The captain had led Johnny to Roxanne's bedroom. This seemed to be the only room in the entire house out of the ordinary. For one thing, there was blood all over the floor. The bed was unmade, which was extremely unusual for Roxanne. Also, the window was basically removed and tire tracks led from a point on the floor, up the wall, through the missing window, and, assumedly, down the outside wall.

_A motorcycle, _Johnny thought. But that wasn't what the captain was pointing to. He was pointing to a section of the bed revealed by the removed covers. There were cinders on it in the form of words:

_JOHNNY BLAZE – BRING BACK ZARATHOS OR ELSE._

_-GHOST RIDER (THE REAL ONE)_

"Well, Johnny? Do you know anything about this Zaratros, Zorrothos, Sarathos – however you pronounce it? Or this Ghost Rider? Or perhaps what he means be 'the real one'?" Johnny thought about telling the captain everything. He thought about telling the captain of his deal with the devil, of Blackheart, of Carter Slade, of Zarathos, of the Contract of Sandbeganna, of Mephisto's warning. But then he recalled that even Roxanne originally thought that he was insane. Besides, the police may not be all too thrilled to hear that he's being possessed by a demon and that the devil wants it back.

"No," Johnny finally replied, "I don't make anything of this…."


	5. Part Five

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

His first approach was obvious. After everyone had went home, Ghost Rider followed the tire tracks leading from Roxanne's house. They went through town and into a desert. There, they disappeared in the sand. Johnny sighed. He didn't think that it would be that easy.

Next, Johnny decided to retrace Roxanne's steps – maybe there was a clue. He first searched through her house. Other than the bedroom, everything seemed to be in order. It looked as if Roxanne had had a usual night. Stepping outside, he went to Roxanne's car. He knew where that had come from – his house.

Transforming into Ghost Rider, he whistled and his demonic motorcycle rushed to him. He hopped on and rode to his house. He saw the broken glass from where he had crashed out earlier and tried to recall why he didn't just use the door.

Inside, everything seemed to be in the same place it was before. But then, he caught something new…. There was a piece of paper in the garbage can. He took it out. Whatever had been written was crossed out, but Johnny managed to read some of the writing behind the scribbles. It was Roxanne's handwriting.

_I was interviewing…. knew you're Ghost Rider…. He gave me an…. told me not to look…. My cameraman couldn't see…. I wanted to warn you that…. not necessarily a good idea to –_

After that, she had stopped writing. It was a very strange letter, which Johnny knew would make much more sense without the scribbles.

_I was interviewing…._ That meant that it happened during work. Roxanne was a reporter.

_knew you're Ghost Rider…._ Johnny didn't know what to make of this. Perhaps her knowledge of his being Ghost Rider had a part in it?

_He gave me an…._ This was the most mysterious part of the letter. Who gave her what?

_told me not to look…._ This was confusing. What couldn't she look at? Was it the mysterious item which the mysterious who had given her or the mysterious who himself?

_My cameraman couldn't see…._ This seemed to mean that Roxanne's cameraman didn't understand Roxanne. The strangest part of this was why Roxanne bothered to even mention it.

_I wanted to warn you that…._ Now _this_ was interesting. Roxanne supposedly learned some information which was urgent. Perhaps it had something to do with her kidnapping?

_not necessarily a good idea to –_ Johnny only wished there was more. He stared down at the ink, at Roxanne's curvy writing. He attempted to make out more, but it wasn't easy. Not necessarily a good idea to do what? Was someone setting a trap for him?

He continued to squint down at it, when he finally made out two letters. Both were capitalized at the beginning of a word. It was a name, or at least the initials.

_------ D---- K---_

_DK_. Who's DK? Johnny began writing to himself all that he had been able to make underneath it, when he realized something.

_My cameraman couldn't see…._ Even if he wasn't understanding of the topic, perhaps he could at least lead Johnny in the correct direction! Perhaps he even knew the identity of the mysterious DK!

This time remembering to use the door, Johnny left his house in a hurry. He hopped on Grace and rode over to the news station.

---

It was morning now, and work had already started for everyone. Upon arriving there, he entered and asked immediately for – What was his name? – for Roxanne Simpson's cameraman!

"Roxanne Simpson's cameraman," repeated the man whom he had asked. "You want to speak with someone and you can't even refer to them by name?"

"Please – it's urgent!" The man sighed.

"He's not here yet. He may not even arrive. Since Miss Simpson was kidnapped, we called him to say not to come, but we had to leave a message. Of course, he could have already been on the way and – Hey! Come back here!" But Johnny was already out the door. He sat down on a bench and waited. It was foggy outside. Suddenly, Johnny heard a name.

_Jo-ohnny_.

Johnny looked around.

_Jo-o-ohnny._

Was someone calling him?

_Johnny!_

Johnny spun around and saw a handsome man with blonde hair smirk at him, then erupt into flames as the Ghost Rider, and disappear into the fog.

Johnny got up and prepared to charge, but then a shadow caught his eye. An enormous van was pulling up. Roxanne's cameraman stepped out.

"Mr. Cameraman?" Johnny asked.

"Oh great," he replied, "you. What are you doing here? Looking for Roxy?"

"No, looking for you."

"What?"

"Roxy was kidnapped." The cameraman's eyes widened at this. "And I think it may have something to do with the man whose initials are 'DK'. Do you relate this with anything?"

"DK?" the cameraman echoed instinctively. "You mean Dan Ketch?"

"Dan Ketch?"

"Listen, you are not Sherlock Holmes," the man said. "If you know anything, tell the police. I, on the other hand, am going home. No Roxanne means no job." He jumped back into his van.

"Wait! What do you know about Dan Ketch?" Johnny asked, grabbing the van door to stop the cameraman from leaving.

"Just that he doesn't exist. Now let go of my van so I can go –" But the cameraman never finished his sentence as a razor-sharp object suddenly pierced through his heart. The cameraman collapsed into the street, with blood seeping out his chest. Behind him, a man retracted the finger which had just murdered.


	6. Part Six

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

"You're next," he said, and launched his bony finger, which tore through his own skin, at Johnny, who grabbed the man's wrist and shouted:

"Who are you? Are you Dan Ketch?"

"Ha! No, Rider, and you'll never learn who is!" This surprised Johnny. It meant that the mysterious murderer knew that he was Ghost Rider. What to do? He was, after all, right in front of a news station and transforming might not be the best idea ever. His moment of hesitation was all that the man needed.

He grasped Johnny's chest and thrust him through a window. The blow knocked Johnny straight through the news building –

"Who was that?"

"I think it was Johnny Blaze – Roxy's boyfriend!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Turn on your camera! This is big! I know it!"

– and into a small room. At least there was privacy here, just so long as no reporters came in. Or at least, he hoped so….

Just then, the mysterious assailant charged through the hole in the window Johnny had made and leaped into the room. The man had a short black beard, pale-white skin, and was bald. He seemed to be middle-aged. His bones, however, were jutting out of his skin at nearly every joint, razor-sharp. Thinking fast, Johnny transformed into Ghost Rider while the man blocked the view of the reporters and immediately encircled the room in flames. Hopefully, it would look like the killer had somehow done so.

"Well, well, well, Rider. Clever. Now it's just you and me." He grimaced, showing razor-sharp teeth.

"What do you want with me?"

"I will do what the new Rider has so far failed – I will destroy you! Mephistopheles will have Zarathos back!" There it was again – Zarathos. The demon who possesses the Ghost Rider.

"If Mephisto still doesn't have Zarathos, then who possesses the new Rider?"

"Hahaha!" the man laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

"Try me!"

"Why do you care? You won't live long enough for it to matter, after all!" Ghost Rider tried to put a name to the man's face. After all he had read on the Underworld, he would have hoped to be able to recognize any demon! For that matter, he would have hoped to know who Dan Ketch was as well….

Suddenly, the man skimmed his big toe across Ghost Rider's throat. Johnny leaped backwards. Although he didn't have any arteries as the Rider, if he transformed into Johnny Blaze, then any injuries sustained as the Ghost Rider would appear. However, he was pretty sure that he had avoided it.

Rider launched a fireball at the man, who didn't move a muscle. He simply let the flames engulf him.

"Do you honestly think that I, the Skinner, can not stand a mere fireball?" And at that, the Skinner tossed Ghost Rider through the flames and back into the public.

"Oh my gosh!" shouted a reporter. "It looks just like the description of that demon who attacked the old man the other day!"

"Where did he come from?"

"Here we are live on the scene where a grotesque monster attacked a harmless young man, who is suspected to be Johnny Blaze," someone was saying. "Although the monster had hidden their fight in flames, a demon just fell out of them. He has been identified as the same demon who attacked an old man just recently. Are these two incidents related? Are the demon and monster in league? And what does Johnny Blaze have to do with all this? More to come after these messa- Wait! The monster is coming back! Oh my! I need a new job!"

The Skinner leaped out of the flames and dashed towards the Rider. Thinking fast, and remembering that his flames were useless against this monstrosity, the Ghost Rider snatched his chain and flung it around the Skinner. He then spun Skinner around and, when he let go, the monster crashed into a wall.

Ghost Rider whipped his chain and captured Skinner inside of them. But just then, the chain snapped. It was then that Johnny remembered who the Skinner was – he was a demon with razor-sharp bones who wore the skins of his victims. This explained why Johnny didn't recognize him and why the chain had snapped. But how could Rider defeat someone who was immune to every attack?

Well, not every attack….

The Ghost Rider walked up to his temporarily exhausted foe and snatched him by the chest.

"Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocents! Look into my eyes and feel their pain!" he bellowed as Skinner stared hopelessly into Rider's eyes. Ghost Rider could see every man the demon had ever murdered, a helpless woman, a baby, an old man, and Egyptian king, Roxanne's cameraman, even the man whose skins the demon was currently wearing. Then, Skinner's eyes looked as a piece of solidified lava would and he collapsed onto the floor due to the penance stare.

Ghost Rider slowly turned around and saw all the reporters staring at him, cameras held high.

"Umm…." Rider searched for words. "You mind if this is…. _off_ the record?"

And on that note, Rider put his fingers to his mouth, whistled, and Grace tore through the building. Ghost Rider charged out on his motorcycle and thought back, trying to recount everything that had just gone wrong.

He still didn't know anything about Dan Ketch.

A man was murdered.

Johnny Blaze has been tied into this.

Ghost Rider is camera-shy.

Johnny is expected to still be in the backroom and his motorcycle is expected to be parked outside.

_Johnny is expected to still be in the backroom and his motorcycle is expected to be parked outside._

Ghost Rider halted to a stop and flung around to see if it was too late. It was. There were reporters and police outside now – he could never sneak back the bike and crawl into the private room.

---

Johnny watched the news that night while still in his form of Ghost Rider. Johnny, after all, was missing. He watched it through a family's window without them knowing. Although he strained to hear, he managed.

"Although it was originally thought that the demon was allied with the hideous man, labeled monster, the two soon began fighting. Now, it is believed that perhaps this is not the same demon who attacked an old man two nights ago, but a look-alike. After all, it is hard to believe that this good Samaritan and that wicked demon are one in the same. Some, however, believe that this was just a show. Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze, the victim of the attack, has gone missing. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, please call 911 to report this drastic info. One civilian has this to say." The reporter nodded towards a fat teenager, who Ghost Rider was surprised to recognize as a woman whom he had saved from a mugger years ago.

"It is definitely a look-alike, because this guy – he once saved me and I think he's nice." She made a peace sign with her hands and then waved. "Hi mom."

"In other news, the 'monster' has been identified as Jack Ketch." Johnny leaned forward. He had not expected this. "The surprising thing is that Ketch was recently found dead in his home, without his skin. If it weren't for his DNA, he never even would have been identified. Some are now suggesting that the monster had somehow 'worn' Jack Ketch's skin, however grotesque it may sound. Either way, many are now relating the demon and this monster with the legendary Dan Ketch, for Jack is his rumored father. Is Dan Ketch related to all of this? Where is Johnny Blaze? Is the demon innocent guilty? Is he the same demon who attacked that harmless old man or merely a look-alike? Tune in to keep with our constant updates."

"Thank you, Kate," the anchorman said. "After these messages, we will discuss the mutant showdown which recently occurred in New York over their cure." Not caring what was going on half a country away, Ghost Rider revved up his motorcycle and blasted away. He had been hoping that they would discuss Dan Ketch on the news after learning of Jack Ketch. But now, he was back to where he started – clueless and without a hint. He looked back at the scribbled notes Roxy had trashed with his interpretation of it on the bottom.

_I was interviewing D…. K…._

_ knew you're Ghost Rider…._

_He gave me an…._

_told me not to look…._

_My cameraman couldn't see…._

_I wanted to warn you that…._

_not necessarily a good idea to –_

He filled in DK as Dan Ketch and reread it.

_My cameraman couldn't see…._ Her cameraman hadn't believed in Dan Ketch. Johnny originally believed that Roxanne had confided in him, but he didn't understand her. But what if he _literally_ couldn't see Dan Ketch! What if only Roxanne could see him! Johnny wished that he watched the morning news the day before.

He filled in _My cameraman couldn't see Dan Ketch._, stuffed it back into his coat pocket and zoomed away. Only one man was left to confide in: Carter Slade.

But, upon arriving in the cemetery where Slade resided, he found nothing but the body of an old caretaker.

Now, there was no one left but Johnny.


	7. Part Seven

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

Izzie sat on the bench, his gun next to him. He was reading the _Daily Bugle_. Just then, Crash walked by.

"Hey, man," said Izzie, "you mind taking over my shift? I'm starving for some Subway!"

"Whatever," Crash replied. "Say, Izzie, you don't, like, really think that anything's gonna happen tonight, do ya?"

"Nah," Izzie waved off casually. "Not even a _demon_ would attack here now! Besides, what would the point? They got what they want!"

"You mean Blaze?"

"Of course! Didn't you hear about that sign in Roxanne's bed? He's got some artifact called 'Zarathos'."

Behind the bushes, Johnny Blaze shuddered. If only Zarathos was just an artifact, and not a demon possessing him. He was covered in blood from his fight with the Skinner. It was extremely painful. He wished that he could turn into Ghost Rider without combusting and revealing his location.

Johnny looked down the note.

_I was interviewing Dan Ketch..._ Johnny couldn't make much of the rest, but whether Roxanne's interview of Ketch was aired or not, he still had the feeling that the news station still had the tape. If he viewed it, then perhaps he could make more sense of what is going on – such as who is Dan Ketch and what potential danger was she speaking of? He just hoped that he would be able to see Ketch, unlike Roxanne's cameraman.

Therefore, he had been camping outside the news station all night long waiting for one of the guards to be distracted. But nothing was happening.

Johnny had hoped it wouldn't come down to this, but he created a small fireball in his hand and launched it a good distance away. Crash, the guard, looked towards it. He got up, gun in hand, and moved towards the spot Johnny had aimed for.

Quickly, Johnny dashed towards the station – _never _would he have expected it to be so heavily guarded – and launched fire forwards to reveal all tripwires. There was only outside, which Johnny easily stepped over, but dozens inside. Johnny transformed into Ghost Rider, whose demonic essence was strangely undetected, although getting the leather coat through proved to be slightly more difficult.

Before he went much farther, Johnny saw the Skinner. Chalk outlined half of his body, and there was spilled coffee over the rest. Apparently, someone had interrupted the cops' work and messed it up. He turned towards the next hallway, when he heard a small breeze. Rider turned back towards Skinner to see his essence sinking back to hell, just as Blackheart's had done.

Ghost Rider wondered what the police would think when all they found was Jack Ketch's empty shell, then continued on his way. Eventually, Rider found the record room. After much searching, he finally uncovered the tape which he was looking for:

_Roxanne Simpson: 9-12, 9:14AM-10:24AM, LIVE_

This was it. Now, all that the Rider needed was a VCR to play it in. But before he could do anything, an army of over a hundred men and women in blue suits, and full helmets with "S.H.I.E.L.D" written upon them in an American symbol charged in and began shooting. They hit the Rider thousands of times over, not once even leaving a scratch.

The Ghost Rider spun around, grabbed his chain, spun it around, and lassoed a headlight, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still shooting at him. Then, with a yank, the headlight and entire ceiling collapsed. The troopers jumped backwards out of range and then stormed over the ceiling remnants after the Ghost Rider, who was running down the aisle.

"Don't let him escape!" a woman's voice shouted. Unfortunately for the Rider, he found no light at the end of aisle – nor any windows to dramatically leap out of. So he spun around the shelves and knocked them over. He could see as some of the men leaped backwards, knocking over the next shelf in a domino effect, while others crushed and knocked unconscious (their armor kept them alive).

"Halt! You are being charged for trespassing, vandalizing, and probably robbery!" the woman shouted. She then turned to her watch, pressed a button, and said, "Colonel Fury, this Agent One speaking. Requesting back up. The demon is even more difficult than we imagined – he just knocked out half the team!" Then, Rider's attention was diverted. The only exit – was out the door, which, as always, was behind S.H.I.E.L.D..

Ghost Rider turned towards the shelves behind him and grabbed a rack of tapes. He then hurled them at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, knocking out about thirty of them with bullseyes in the chins, heads, stomachs, and, occasionally, the you-know-wheres.

"Make that three quarters! May I repeat – make that three quarters!" But just then, the female agent's watch was knocked off by a flying VHS.

"Shut up, already!" Ghost Rider shouted, and then snatched another tape. "Listen, I know that with DVDs out, these things are pretty out-rated, but hey, they still do a pretty good job for goin' all Bullseye on ya!" And then, he hurled the tape at the female Agent One, and her helmet split in two, revealing the redhead beneath.

"Attack!" she shouted, and suddenly, the remaining twenty-five or so agents opened fire. Ghost Rider leaped forward, allowing the bullets to explode the tapes. While in mid-air, he grabbed his chain, and then, landing directly in the middle of the army, rapidly spun around 3600 degrees, knocking out all of the remaining officers. Then, he turned to leave.

"Please," shouted out a voice. Rider looked down to see the redheaded Agent One. "Have mercy!" Ghost Rider bent over until his face was right up against hers.

"You are charged for trespassing, vandalizing, and possible robbery!" he whispered, then snatched her bleeding head and slammed into the ground, spurting more blood and rendering Agent One unconscious.

---

"Please, master, I was trying to serve you well!" shouted out the Skinner's voice. Two shadowy figures lurked in a fiery realm. One, clearly the Skinner, laid on his knees, bowed before the larger, more dominant figure.

"Skinner," Mephisto boomed, "your orders were to kill all possible informants and leave the Rider dumbstruck! Rather, you attacked him in a news station!"

"I'm sorry, m'lord! Please forgive me!"

"Your murder of Jack Ketch, too, was not only publicized, but you wore his skins as well, demonstrated my order of it! Now, we can only pray that Ketch never learns!"

"M'lord, please, let me go and I'll be sure that he –"

"_I'm not done yet, Skinner!_ Your greatest failure was that you never destroyed the tape of Miss Simpson's interview with Dan Ketch! If the Rider gets his hands on this, he'll have all the information he'll need! Curse that incessant fool for having her put in on air! He should have known better!"

Skinner did not respond. He hoped that Mephisto would forget about him. But just then, a cage sprang up around him and he disappeared.

"Ketch had better come through..."

---

He went home. Hopefully, no one would realize he was there, considering that he was supposed to be missing. Johnny inserted the tape into the VCR. He had hundreds of bandages. It took him all morning to treat the gunshot wounds which showed upon transformation.

"Hello, this is Roxanne Simpson," Roxanne reported. "Eye witnesses say that there was some kind of demon attacking a harmless old man on this scene. The demon ran away on a motorcycle, while the old man disappeared without a trace. Captain, can you explain the demon?"

"No comment." Then, there was a small gap. Roxy had probably asked for it off the record. When it came back on, Roxanne was talking a handsome young blonde-haired man. Johnny gaped. It was the same man whom he had seen shortly before his battle with the Skinner – the new Ghost Rider!

"Sir," Roxanne questioned, "please, tell us your name and explain how you saw this 'demon'."

"'Demons'," the man corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"The old guy. He was a demon too. The devil, to be specific. And the other demon – he was the devil's bounty hunter, the Ghost Rider." Roxy paused, then asked, in a slightly softer tone:

"Who are you?"

"Name's Daniel Ketch," said the man. "And before you ask your next question, it was."

"What do you mean?"

Dan lowered his voice. "It was yer boyfriend, Johnny Blaze." Johnny was glad that no one could see nor hear Dan Ketch.

"How do you know all this?"

"Do not concern yourself with that, Miss Simpson," Dan grinned, "just give him this note." Covertly, Ketch handed Roxanne an envelope. "Don't look inside, Roxy, or else, you may never look back up." Roxanne stared at the envelope, while Dan Ketch faded away.

"Psst, Miss Simpson…." her cameraman whispered. "We're still recording…."

"Are we live?"

"Um…. Kinda…." Roxanne's eyes widened and she continued speaking.

"So that you have it, folks. This is Roxanne Simpson at the scene of the fight between the devil and his bounty hunter. Over and out."

On that, the tape ended. Johnny could only stare. Everything made sense now.

_I was interviewing Dan Ketch, who, somehow, knew you're Ghost Rider._ Johnny had thought that Roxy was speaking of her own knowledge of Johnny's alter ego, but now, the gaps were clear.

_He gave me an envelope, but he told me not to look at it._ Finally! He knew what Ketch had given her!

_My cameraman couldn't see Dan Ketch. I wanted to warn you that it's not necessarily a good idea to –_ "–to look inside the envelope." Johnny finished to himself. But he knew he had to. He had to find this envelope and see what was inside.

But now, he knew even more than he had bargained for. He knew the identity of the new Rider. He knew that the new Ghost Rider was Dan Ketch.


	8. Part Eight

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

The room was deserted. Assumedly, all the cops had went home to their wives. Where would Roxanne hide a mysterious letter which no one is allowed to read? Johnny only hoped that the policemen hadn't found the envelope.

After much fruitless searching, Johnny finally found the envelope Roxanne had been given by Dan Ketch next in the fireplace. Cinders surrounded it. Johnny was amazed. Apparently, Roxanne didn't want Johnny to see it and had attempted burning the letter, but it appeared to be flameproof. Ketch really wanted Johnny to get that letter! And who was he to disappoint?

Johnny picked up the envelope. It hadn't even been charred – it was perfectly intact. The contents were as well.

The letter had two enormous eye-shaped symbols drawn in the on the bottom of the page. They had vertical pupils. Johnny read the writing.

_Blaze-_

_It's Ketch. Meet me in the bank on the midnight beginning the day of His demise. If you think so highly of Him, it's only fitting for you to die on the same day._

There was a small break in the writing.

_Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocents, Zarathos. Look into my eyes and feel their pain._

Suddenly, Johnny's eyes were drawn to those on the parchment. The sketched pupils began to glow like runes.

Suddenly, Johnny saw a beautiful young woman, with a baby in her hands, screaming. A building was burning in the background. A shirtless Ghost Rider towered above her. The scene was etched in flames.

"My husband!" the woman screamed. "You killed my –" Johnny looked away just in time. It was the penance stare. Johnny's soul wasn't stained with innocent blood, but apparently, Zarathos's was. However, to attempt etching it in parchment seemed to be a desperate attempt to stop him, and Mephisto had said that Ketch would be a challenge.

No, there had to be another reason. But what?

Whatever it was, Johnny knew where to go next. Despite the fact that it was clearly a trap, Johnny had to meet Ketch at the bank on Good Friday. It was currently eleven-thirty the Thursday before.

Johnny stuffed the letter in his coat pocket, went outside, and leaped onto Grace. Then, he drove off across town to the bank.

---

It was closed for most folks. But the Ghost Rider cannot be stopped by closing hours.

Sure not to draw too much attention to what looked like himself robbing the bank, Johnny burned and melted the lock and alarm system before opening the door. In the morning, the holes in the walls wouldn't be so covet. Of course, in the morning, Johnny doubted that the bank would still be standing. Thankfully, it was closed.

Johnny walked into the old bank and looked at the clock. It was 11:31. He sat down and waited twenty-nine more minutes. Then, right on the hour, the door opened.

"Johnny Blaze?"

"Dan Ketch?"

Dan stepped out of the shadows. He was, indeed, the new Ghost Rider. He even transformed as appearing.

"Hello, Johnny." Johnny sprung out the seat, transforming into the Rider himself, and charged at Ketch. Ketch grasped his own chain and flung it at Johnny, spinning him around. Johnny sent a powerful flame up Ketch chain, which Ketch countered with a flame of his own. The two flames met and exploded, blasting both Ghost Riders backwards through opposite walls and setting the building on fire. Johnny knew it wouldn't last the night.

Johnny leaped up before Ketch, having more experience. He kneeled over and breathed powerfully enough to erupt the cinders towards Ketch, who awoke and spun out of the way just in time. He whistled, and a demonic motorcycle similar to Johnny's came roaring up to his side.

"Meet my wheels," Ketch said, jumping onto it, "Chaos!"

Johnny whistled and his own cycle came to him.

"Chaos," he echoed, "meet Grace!"

And on that, the two demonic cyclists charged at each other, each simultaneously grabbing their chains and hurling them at the other. The two chains met and entangled, causing the two Riders to spin around in circles.

A crowd was gathering now.

"See! I _told_ you there were two!" someone said. "You owe me five bucks!"

"No way! There's gotta be a loop-hole – yes! Perhaps – perhaps there's a _third_ one! You have no proof!"

"See!" someone else said. "I _told_ you they were real! You owe me ten bucks!"

"How do you know it's not a dream!"

Ketch let go of his chain and leaped into the air.

"You guys are _so_ annoying!" he shouted, launching fireballs at them.

"NO!" Johnny let go of his own chain and leaped in front of the people, creating a shield of fire. "Get out of here! Before this gets worse!"

But just then, the fire-shield was split in two as an extra-long chain swung around Ketch's head.

"Hey, Johnny! _Never_ let go of your weapon like that!"

"What did he call him?"

"'Honey', I think. Guess they're married."

"_Get out of here, already!_" Johnny screamed at the citizens. But just then, the chain snatched Rider by the neck, tossed him through both bikes, another bank wall, and far into the distance. He got up and whistled. Grace charged towards him and Johnny mounted her. Then, he sped back towards the bank, only to clash with Ketch and his bike, Chaos.

Grace and Chaos were crushed and the two demons flew high into the air – the momentum sent them nearly into space!

Both Johnny and Ketch then grabbed the other one's throat.

"Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents!" Johnny roared.

"Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents!" Ketch repeated.

"Look into my eyes," they both shouted at, "and feel their pain!"

Then, the two both delved into hundreds of scenes, each framed in flames.

"Have mercy!" a bank teller shouted to Ketch, who pulled the trigger.

"Don't do this," an old woman cried out to Zarathos.

"You should've given me the money when you had the chance!" Ketch shouted out, as he stabbed a woman in the throat.

"Tell the devil that he will never win!" a burning priest screamed out to Zarathos.

"I hate you with all my heart out!" a dying officer whispered to Ketch.

"Slade, without me, you can't even live without the essence of another demon!" Zarathos boomed to the old caretaker, who replied, "That is what I'm doing. Carter Slade won't go down easy."

"Leave no witnesses!" Ketch wailed, bringing a dagger into a young girl's head.

And then came the same scene as before...

Zarathos towered over a beautiful young woman, with a baby cradled in her hands. A burning building stood in the background.

"My husband!" she shouted out. "You killed my Jackie!" Zarathos jumped onto his wheels and said his farewells.

"It was nice doing business with you, Mrs. Ketch."

The double penance stare ended. Johnny and Ketch, now in his human form (probably due to a side effect of the penance stare), were still falling, hands over the other's throat. Only now, Ketch's eyes were closed.

"So Johnny," he grinned, "am I cute as a baby or what?"


	9. Part Nine

_**GHOST RIDER**_

_**2**_

Johnny stared at his opponent. They were still falling, hands over each other's throats, now both in human forms.

"The devil needs impure souls to live," Ketch recalled. "But he can only get them from deals. That night, he made a deal with my father. His soul for the lives of me and my ma." Johnny continued to stare. "But he was too busy to do so himself. He sent Zarathos to make the deal for him."

"I'm not Zarathos."

"But you are, and for that, you will pay!"

Johnny was amazed.

"Ketch, I thought that you were helping the devil retrieve Zarathos," Johnny reminded.

"Yup, by sendin' him back to hell. By killing him!"

The two were now approaching the ground (the double penance stare wasn't as long as it seemed). They let go of each other's throats, simultaneously kicked off the other one, did back-flips, transformed into the two Riders, and landed.

Johnny reached for his chain, only to remember that Ketch still had it, as Ketch then swung the double chain around Johnny's rib cage, crushing it. The Rider yelped out in pain, then grabbed the double chain and snapped right at the knot. He unraveled his own chain and flung it towards Ketch, who grabbed it and yanked Johnny behind him.

Upon colliding with the ground, Johnny hurled an arc at Ketch's feet, tripping him. Johnny then leaped onto Ketch and began punching and punching and punching.

"_Where's Roxanne?_" he bawled. The seemingly helpless Ketch then grabbed Rider's incoming blow.

"'Where's my father?'" he replied. "That's what I asked so long ago... And you never answered." Johnny's bony hand was being crushed by Ketch's. He flung his hand into the air in attempt to shake Ketch loose. It worked; Ketch went flying into the air, with Johnny's missing hand now in his.

"Hey!" Johnny yelled out. Ketch hurled the hand at Johnny, who dove out of the way.

"Stop hitting yourself!" he shouted, then lashed out his chain and whipped Johnny in the back of the head. Johnny grabbed his hand, put it back into place, then jumped into a lone, leafless, dying tree. "Aw, you're leaving? But the party's just beginning!"

"No," Johnny whispered back, shoving the tree, "_not without Roxanne!_" And on that note, the tree fell out of its roots and collapsed upon Ketch, who could only gape in shock.

When the debris cleared, Johnny walked over to where Ketch had stood and saw a fiery footprint in-between the branches.

_Darn!_ Johnny thought. _I missed!_

---

Johnny was back in the cemetery. The caretaker was dead, or so it seemed. During the double penance stare, Johnny had seen Carter Slade speaking of a new demon inside of him. Was it possible that he had survived?

Johnny entered the old man's cabin.

"Usually," someone said, "you knock first." Johnny spun around, expecting to see Carter Slade. But instead, he held pointed and said, "You."

"What's wrong, Zarry?" Daimon Hellstrom asked. "You don't seem too happy to see your old pal." Part of Johnny wanted to kill this demon. Part of him wanted to greet him.

Daimon Hellstrom was one of Mephisto's many sons, but, like Blackheart, was a rebel of Hell. Unlike Blackheart, however, he did not wish to rule Hell, but rather to destroy it. He was also the mortal enemy of Zarathos, Mephisto's favorite.

"Don't worry," Hellstrom said, "I'm not gonna attack you, Zarry. Under Blaze's control, you're no threat."

"Is Carter Slade –"

"– alive? Yeah, but barely. It's taking all of my strength to keep him alive. This Skinner guy attacked us and forced me out. Then he left us to die."

"Why don't you just go back in?" Johnny wondered.

"It's not simple," Daimon explained. "I first need him to let me in, and in his current state, that's not exactly possible..."

"But I didn't let Zarathos in!"

"Actually, Blaze, you did. A deal with the devil is all he needed. But anyway," Hellstrom continued, "what are you here for? Lemme guess, a legend, right?"

"Yup," Johnny replied, "the legend of Dan Ketch."

"Dan Ketch? Why do ya wanna know about Dan Ketch? Do ya think he's involved in this somehow?"

"I _know_ that he _is_ the new Ghost Rider." Daimon looked impressed.

"Well, you're doin' much better without us than I figgered ya would, Zarry."

"So, do you know the legend or is that only Slade's job?" Johnny asked.

"Oh, I know," Hellstrom responded. "Bein' cooped up in there fer a century, ya tend to pick up on this kinda stuff."

---

_"Dan Ketch, the most deadly robber in the west."_

_"You don't have very good grammar, do you?"_

_"Darn it, Zarry! Lemme tell the story!"_

_"Sorry!"_

_"Dan Ketch the most deadly robber in the west. It be said that he pulls two major heists each week! No one knows why, just that he does. The guy is a force to be reckoned with. He leaves no witnesses and not a penny behind._

_"Many say he ain't real. Many say he just a rumo'. Many die at his hands. Dan Ketch has no mercy._

_"Some says that he a greedy one. Some says that he has a specific purpose for all that money. Some says that his father, Jack Ketch, makes him get it all. I says that it don't matter, long as I never have to see his face."_

---

"And that's the legend."

"His father..." Johnny thought. "You mentioned his father."

"Yeah, I know, the Skinner killed his daddy. I saw it on the news."

"_Zarathos killed his father!_" Hellstrom was taken aback.

"Are you sure, Zarry?"

"Yes, and please stop calling me that."

"Sorry, Blaze. But, that makes no sense..."

"You're right," Johnny said, "but I saw it myself. It's true. Somehow, his father must have come back."

"How right you are," said a voice.

"Daimon," Johnny questioned, "was that you?"

"Nope," Hellstrom responded. Johnny got up and went outside. His eyes bulged as he pointed with his trademark, "You."

Dan Ketch stood above the comatose bodies of Carter Slade and Roxanne Simpson, ready to kill.


	10. Part Ten

"Let them go, Ketch!" Johnny hollered. "This is between you and me!"

"I'm sorry, Rider, but I don't really _feel_ like it! Not after what you did to me!"

"I swear, Ketch, if you harm them in any way, I will unleash so much hellfire upon your soul that you'll wish you never even met _Johnny Blaze, the real Ghost Rider!_"

"Kid," Hellstrom interrupted, "let's hear 'em out. Maybe he'll tell us what going on!"

"If you really want to know," Ketch explained, "then check out the flames just outside this cemetery. Then, meet me at my place if you ever want to see these two alive."

"NO!" Johnny shouted, jumping for Ketch, but he had vanished.

"Come quick, Blaze! The man wasn't kiddin'! His whole story is sketched right in front of me!" Johnny ran towards Daimon Hellstrom, who was staring at cinders much like those in Roxanne's bed.

_MY FAMILY HAD NEVER BEEN A HIGHLY RELIGIOUS BUNCH, BUT WHEN ZARATHOS CAME TO COLLECT, WE KNEW WHO HE WAS. HE CHOSE US THREE OUT OF LOTS; THERE WAS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT US…. UNTIL THEN, THAT IS…._

_ZARATHOS BURNED DOWN MY HOME, AND PREPARED TO KILL US ALL – ME, MY FATHER, AND MY MOTHER – IN ONE SWEEPING BLOW! THEN HE OFFERED UP A CHOICE: A SOUL FOR TWO LIVES. MY DAD AGREED. JACK KETCH, THE GREAT COWBOY…. NOW A SLAVE FOR THE DEVIL…._

_BUT MY MA, SHE WAS SO UPSET BY IT THAT SHE WENT THROUGH A RITUAL TO CONTACT THE DEVIL HIMSELF. SHE WANTED A TRADE: HER SOUL FOR HIS. THE DEVIL WAS AMUSED._

_THE DEVIL ISN'T ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY DADDY, NOW, BUT THAT DOESN'T PROTECT HIM FROM THE HEART CONDITIONS SLOWLY EATING AWAY AT HIS LIFE. I NEEDED MONEY – AND FAST. SO, I USED EVERY COWBOY AND MOTORCYCLING ABILITY HE HAD EVER TAUGHT ME TO TRACK DOWN THE CASH FOR HIS OPERATION. AND I NEEDED TO STAY UNDETECTED, OR ELSE, WHO WOULD ACCEPT MY DOUGH?_

_UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS EVENTUALLY CAUGHT, EVEN THOUGH I DID MANAGE TO ESCAPE. IT WAS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO SAVE MY FATHER._

_AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT MEPHISTO CAME TO ME WHEN HE WANTED ZARATHOS' HEAD. HE KNEW I HAD A GRUDGE – SO DID MY DADDY, TECHNICALLY, BUT HE'S OLD AND FRAIL. PLUS, THE DEAL WAS OBVIOUS: IN EXCHANGE FOR MY SERVICE, I COULD SAVE MY FATHER, EXACT REVENGE, AND BE RE-UNITED WITH MY MOTHER!_

_NO, BLAZE, YOUR EYES DO NOT DECEIVE YOU. THE SO-CALLED "DEMON" WHICH POSSESSES ME IS, IN TRUTH, MY OWN MOTHER, LILITH KETCH! HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO HAVE YOUR DEMONIC PAST COME BACK TO BITE YOU? OR DO YOU NOT EVEN REMEMBER US, BEING THAT WE'RE SOOOO INSIGNIFICANT?_

_NOW MEET ME AT MY PLACE – HERE'S THE ADDRESS. BRING ZARATHOS._

For a while, neither Blaze nor Hellstrom had any reaction. Finally, Daimon spoke.

"So, what now?"

"Now, it's showdown time."


	11. Part Eleven

Daimon Hellstrom had decided to stay behind. It was, after all, Johnny's fight, not his.

After plenty of cycling, Johnny arrived at Ketch's house. He stepped inside to find Ketch sobbing over the floor. He looked up.

"All this time," Ketch said, "and I didn't even know."

"Know what?"

"That you killed my father!" Ketch burst into flames as the Ghost Rider and charged at Johnny. Johnny did not transform. He simply allowed his mind to manipulate the flames away from Ketch's fists and, no matter how much it hurt, endured the punches.

"No, Ketch," Johnny stated solemnly, "I didn't. The devil did."

"You _lie_!" Ketch shouted and he shoved Johnny out the door. "The devil can't get near my father!"

"He's very deceptive. He ordered a demon named the Skinner to –"

"SHUT UP!" Ketch's fireballs hurled Johnny into a tree. Johnny still endured it, ignoring the pain. "Mephisto saved my father – and – and returned my mother to me! And he gave power – power to defeat you, Zarathos!"

"Poor man," Johnny thought out loud, "so confused…."

"I thought I told you to SHUT! UP!" Ketch suddenly exploded into a fury of hellfire, erupting into an enormous fireball which engulfed the land around them. The only way for Johnny to survive was to transform into the Ghost Rider. "Finally, Zarathos."

"No," Rider shook his head, "not the demon. The man."

"Then let's see the demon, shall we?"

"Don't do it, Johnny!" Johnny looked up and saw, in Ketch's front door, the newly awakened Roxanne. "Don't let the devil take control!"

Ketch turned toward Roxanne with a grimace. "You took out my loved ones," he said, "why not take out yours."

"NOOOO! ROXANNE!" Ketch hurled a fireball onto the ground, temporarily blinding Johnny in order to give Ketch just enough time to reach Roxanne. When Johnny's vision cleared, Ketch was in position to kill Roxanne, both staring back at Johnny.

"It's your choice, Blaze!" he declared.

"What do you want?" Johnny cried out. "Do you want me to surrender? I will! I will! I'll surrender it to the devil if I must!"

---

Mephisto grimaced inside of Hell. He had heard the Ghost Rider's fateful words and was ready to grant them. Just one quick trip and it would all be over.

---

"No, thank you," Ketch snarled. "The only way to exact my revenge to face my father's two-time murderer face-to-face. I'll give you back both Roxanne _and _the caretaker. All you need to do is release Zarathos. _Give him control!_"

"All right," Johnny decided, "I'll do it." Ketch shoved Roxanne into the mud and stepped forward. Roxanne looked away. Although she was slightly confused, she knew that she didn't want to see what was coming up next.

"Say it," Ketch ordered. "_I hereby release my control of Zarathos._ Come on – it's only seven words!"

"I hereby…. release…. my control…. of Zarathos…." Suddenly, Johnny fell back as the Rider stood, increasing in power. Zarathos had been unleashed.

"MOTHER," Ketch shouted out to the heavens, "COME FORTH TO VANQUISH OUR FOE!" And so, Dan Ketch, too, fell beside Roxanne, as his version of the Rider diminished, replaced by the beautiful woman from Ketch's penance stare, Lilith Ketch.

"_So,_" Zarathos boomed, "_was it not enough to lose your father, Daniel. Now you wish to lose your mother as well? Very well._"

"_I will not lose, Zarathos,_" Lilith snapped, "_for I, Lilith, Mistress of Darkness, have enough power to rival that of Satan himself._"

"_So do I._" And so, the two demons charged at each other as Johnny and Ketch could only stare and wonder what the outcome would be.

---

The devil stared down upon the two rivaling entities.

"Ketch," he said to himself, "you have failed me. You had the perfect chance and you blew it. With Zarathos and Blaze separated, how am I to claim either soul? Zarathos is not contained and Blaze is free. You will pay severely."

---

Zarathos smacked the beautiful Lilith across the face with flames, knocking her over.

The ultimate battle between Zarathos and Lilith raged on as Ketch crawled up to Blaze.

"Sorry you got caught in the middle of all this, Bub," he said. "I've got nothing against _you_. Now that you're free, though, perhaps you and I can even be partners!" Johnny stared at Dan for a few seconds and then punched him in the nose.

"You _idiot!_" he blazed. "I had complete control over Zarathos until you came along and threatened not only _my_ life, but the life of both Carter Slade and the woman I want to _marry_!" Johnny punched him again, this one in the kidneys. Ketch was dripping blood.

Zarathos hurled a fireball at Lilith, who enveloped it in a coat of sheer darkness and jumped up, shooting intense beams of darkness out of her fingertips. Zarathos jumped over them and exhaled flames which engulfed Lilith.

"I was only trying to separate you! To free you! And if it required a little violence, so be it! You were out of control!"

"_I _was out of control, Ketch? _You_ were, _and still are_, out of control!"

Lilith dove out of the swirl of flames and, ignoring her burning pains, sent out a swirl of darkness, which covered Zarathos and dazed him. One more blow would finish it.

"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!"

"IF YOU WATCHED THE NEWS, YOU'D KNOW THAT WAS SKINNER! HE WAS EVEN WEARING YOUR DAD'S SKINS!" Ketch flinched at this comment as Johnny punched him into the house, which had been set afire during the fight.

"_DANIEL!_" Lilith hollered. She rushed towards the house to save, dropping Zarathos. Like a ghost, she swooped into the burning building, snatched Ketch, and set him on the safe land outside. But Zarathos had recovered.

Before Lilith knew what had hit her, a flame knocked her over.

"Mother!" Dan cried out, barely conscious, now.

"_Dan, please…. Let me possess you again…. It is my only hope…._"

"_How touching…._" Zarathos hovered above the two Ketches as he prepared for his final blow.

"NO!" Johnny shouted out. "With all the power in me, I command you, Zarathos, to _come back!_"

"Mother, come back," Daniel sobbed.

And so, two apparent hurricanes slowly sucked the demons, Zarathos and Lilith, into those they possess, Johnny and Dan.

"All right," Johnny said, transforming into the Ghost Rider, "now where were we?"

"Wait, Johnny," Ketch hollered, "I believe you." Johnny stared for a few seconds, unsure of what exactly Ketch believed. "The devil ordered for my father to be killed. And to think that I thought I could cheat fate…. All he ever does is betray you, but now I realize that."

"It isn't smart for you to fight him, Ketch," Johnny said, turning back. "You may just lose more than your soul. You may lose your spirit."

"My spirit, Blaze, is already gone. I have already been condemned for thousands of purposes. I have nothing to lose by fighting the devil." But, as Ketch turned around, the old man with the cane had already appeared.

"Daniel Ketch, you have failed to destroy Johnny Blaze and, in turn, gone back on your word. Any particular reason for this?" Mephisto inquired.

"It's because I'm a free man."

"Then let's change that, shall we? From now on, you shall remain in the prison I prepared for you in Hell for all of eternity."

"NO!" Johnny shouted, but the devil, Dan Ketch, and the Lilith within had disappeared.

It was over.


	12. Part Twelve

"Tell me again," Johnny asked, "why are we going to see Daimon Hellstrom with a board game?"

"It's called a Ouija Board, Johnny," Roxanne laughed. "It was, after all, Hellstrom's idea to attempt to use one to contact Carter Slade's sub-consciousness and reunite the two!"

"You don't honestly believe in all that, do you, Roxy?"

"Johnny! We have seen demons, vampires, possessions, state tests, and you still don't believe in something as simple as a Ouija Board?"

"It's made of cardboard! Whatever, here's the cemetery." Johnny and Roxanne walked through the cemetery and met up with Daimon Hellstrom, who seemed to be preparing for a ritual.

"Ya here!" he declared frantically. "Good, good, just put da board game in da centah and lessee if it works!"

A few minutes passed by of Johnny and Roxanne resting their hands on the Ouija Board (Hellstrom would be too unholy for it to work). Finally, Johnny lost his patience.

"See, nothing!" he shouted. "I told you it was –" Suddenly, the Ouija Board began to make clicking noises. It was moving.

_WAS WHAT KID_

At first, the three did not believe it was working. Hellstrom was the first to speak.

"Go ahead, ask him!"

"Are you Carter Slade?" Some more clicking sounds were made as the board answered.

_WHO DO YOU THINK_

"Slade," Roxanne said, calmly, "Daimon Hellstrom needs permission to –" But, before Roxanne could finish, Carter Slade was speaking.

_WHO THE HELL ARE YOU GIRL_

Roxanne chuckled. "I'm Roxanne Simpson, Johnny's fiancée."

Johnny smiled. He had proposed a few days prior. She said yes.

"Anyway," Johnny continued, "Daimon Hellstrom is here. He wants to re-enter your comatose body in order to bring you back. What do you say?"

_PLEASE LET HIM IN YOU DONT KNOW HOW DULL IT IS HERE_

"Go ahead, Daimon."

"Thanks, Blaze. Thanks, Simpson." Then, Daimon Hellstrom turned towards Carter Slade's body lying on the ground and was slowly sucked into it. Carter Slade awakened as the Ouija Board snapped back to its starting place.

"Welcome back to the living, Slade," Johnny smiled, hands still on the Ouija Board.

"So, kid, did ya beat the new Rider? And how the hell did you know about Daimon Hellstrom?"

"That," Johnny said, "is a story for another –" The Ouija Board clicked.

_HEY BLAZE_

Silence. Then Johnny spoke.

"Who's there?" The board replied hastily.

_DAN KETCH_

"Dan Ketch?" Carter Slade said, startled. "How the hell do you know Dan Ketch?"

"Hold on a second, Slade," Johnny said, then turned back to the Ouija Board. "How are you, Dan? Where's your mother?" Some more clicking.

_SHES HERE TOO WERE FINE WE ARE DEVISING A MEANS OF ESCAPE HOPEFULLY WELL BE ABLE TO ASSAULT MEPHISTO BUT IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU WERE HERE_

"It would nicer if you were here," Johnny chuckled.

_IM SORRY FOR ALL I PUT YOU THROUGH_

"Don't worry, man. Any enemy of the devil is a friend of mine."

"_Then I guess we won't be friends, Rider._"

Johnny turned around to see a blue, six-armed woman. The Ouija Board clicked.

_GO GET HER RIDER_

"_I am Shelob, Mistress of Spiders. And you and your friends, Blaze, are meat for my spiders!_"

"Actually," Johnny said, standing up and preparing to fight, "I'm the Ghost Rider."

_**THE END**_


End file.
